WorldEmber 2024 Week 1
It's December already
The beginning of December kicks off WorldEmber! Here are the new worldbuilding articles created during this first week.
WorldEmber 2024
Week 2 • Week 3 • Week 4 • Final Week
Words this week: 4550 | 45.5% total
Lleah
Character | 617 words
Link
For a while, I’ve had the idea of an Ancient Necrodrake character that the Dragonguard eventually meets and works with. During NovelEmber I worked this into the story. I’ve also had the name “Lleah” (pronounced as lee) written down for a while too, and I felt like it somehow fit. The pronunciation is based on a shorthand nickname for my sister—Li.
When the loose idea of this character was bouncing around in my head, I also thought she would be the sister of Nyxara, an Ancient Necrodrake that was allied with the Wyrm of Chaos during the Draconian War. She also has a much different personality than her sister.
Many people struggled to tell Lleah and her sister apart, often attacking Lleah, mistaking her for Nyxara, despite her open opposition to the Wyrm of Chaos. Many people doubted her and believed she was manipulating them. Eventually, she started working in the shadows, avoiding humans, much like her sister.
Lleah always fought with her sister Nyxara throughout the Twenty Year Scourge. Nyxara was killed in the final battle of the Draconian War, but Lleah felt no grief for her sister.
Shimmerhorn
Species | 1042 words
Link
When I created the Glistening Meadows, I also thought of some dragonkin with crystalline features, similar to the Gembreaker from Dragons: The Nine Realms show. However, I never got around to actually creating it, and it stayed on my Short Ideas notebook page for a long time.
These unique drakes are exclusively found in the expansive basalt floodplanes of the Glistening Meadows in North Emberland. This enchanting area is home to striking geological formations and the presence of mineral-rich hot springs, which create a vibrant ecosystem that supports these intriguing creatures.
I decided to make them drakes because I thought maybe the crystal formation on their body might make them too heavy to fly. And besides, I needed more drake species.
As I worked out the anatomy, I remembered a cool-looking crystal I saw on the internet and thought the crystal at the end of its tail would have a similar shape. I found the source of the image, and it’s fittingly called a Dragon Scale Calcite crystal. I love how it looks and have wanted to use it for something for a long time.
Unlike traditional horns found on other dragonkin, shimmerhorns possess horns that are enveloped in a layer of crystal rather than the typical keratin. This semi-transparent covering allows for a partial view of the underlying bone structure of the horn.
I also wrote in the notebook page that the eggs would initially be smooth, but since they are placed in the hot springs water, crystals grow on the surface of the shell. Subsequently, the mother doesn’t need to brood over her eggs because the shallow hot springs provide enough warmth.
When shimmerhorns are born, their first drink of the mineral-rich waters will start to form crystals in their throat. Once fromed, they are pressed together and use as vocal cords. The crystals rubbing against each other produce a distinct squeaking sound, similar to squeezing a handful of marbles.
This is probably my favorite part. I wanted the babies to have a similar sound as baby crocodiles. When I wrote about the crystals in their throats, I remembered a video about singing sand in which someone demonstrated how it works by squeezing a handful of marbles together.
Drakeridge
Settlement | 825 words
Link
Since creating the world map, the Drakeridge Mountains, and the fact that the Wyrm of Chaos is imprisoned in Frostcrest, I always imagined that there would be a town at the only passageway through the mountain range. And it’s finally there! Not surprisingly, the city is called “Drakeridge”.
It started as a guarding outpost after the Wyrm of Chaos was escorted to Frostcrest, so make sure he didn’t try to slither his way back and destroy cities within Drakemyst and Arkynshire.
Over time, the outpost was fortified and expanded, eventually becoming a city. It’s actually similar to Eldrya, the headquarters of the Dragonguard, but much bigger, so it has a higher population of civilians than Dragonguard members.
Even though it’s the northernmost city in the eastern hemisphere (for now), the mountain range protects it from the arctic winds. The humans never knew that an Ancient drake, Nyrak, also guarded the mountain pass, though he lived on the other side of the mountain range.
And thanks to a fellow Anvilite, Valentine DM, who suggested that “Ridgefolk” should be the demonym for people living in this city. :)
Christopher Merrick
Character | 1076 words
Link
I had an idea to make my oldest brother a character in the world. A running joke between us is that whenever I see him, I ask him if he’s a Fleet Admiral yet. So, I made this character the Fleet Admiral of the Dragonguard.
A lot of the character’s characteristics are based on my brother. He likes woodworking, hates working with drywall, loves sailing, and also has a pet dog named Karma. The real Karma passed away a few years ago due to cancer, I believe, so I thought it would be nice to add her to the world as well.
The name is also the same as my brother’s, although the last name is different. “Merrick” is derived from the word mere, meaning “sea.” The character’s nickname is “Topher,” which is also what my brother’s friends call him.
This is probably the most comprehensive character in the world so far, haha. Not many of the other characters have this much information.
Fleet Admiral
Rank | 990 words
Link
Since I made a character with the rank of Fleet Admiral. So, of course, I had to make a page for the rank. I first started by working out the rank structure a bit for the “Coalition Officers.” Once I did that, I did some research on the actual Fleet Admiral rank in the U.S. Navy.
Unfortunately, the Wikipedia page doesn't provide much information about the rank of their duties. So, I based some of the responsibilities and stuff on the Admiral rank, just on a larger scale. I did find a Reddit post where someone asked, “How do you actually make Admiral?” Someone responded with a lot of detail. I used some of that for the Appointment section. Now, I get to make the rank insignia and an officer flag! Which, of course, is going to incorporate five stars. I also need to do that for the Archon rank, too.